Study Urges Limits On County Development

May 20, 1986|By Robert McClure, Staff Writer

The number of future residents allowed in a 14-square-mile area east of Wellington and north of Boynton Beach should be cut by a third, a planning study received by the County Commission Monday recommends.

Roads would be strained too much if the number of people allowed under current rules are permitted to move into the half-developed area, the study says.

The pilot study by county planners, however, will have to be redone in greater detail before commssioners decide whether to act on it, officials said.

Development interests criticized the plan for recommending adjustments in growth plans without considering the area`s future economic needs.

The area affected is between U.S. 441 and Florida`s Turnpike. The northern boundary is Dillman Road, north of Forest Hill Boulevard, and the southern boundary is an imaginary line a half-mile north of Boynton Beach Boulevard.

``It is an area which is located on the so-called urban/rural fringe that has been experiencing a shift to a more suburban orientation,`` the 56-page document reports.

About half the land, 4,657 acres, has been developed or is the site of already-approved developments, the report says. The study was done to help decide what should be done about the other half of the land, where no development has been approved yet.

Major recommendations of the report would:

-- Reduce the number of residents to be allowed on land not already committed to development. The density should be slashed from three homes or apartments per acre to only two households, county planners recommended.

In the areas already approved for development, the average density is only 1.2 households per acre, the report states.

-- Leave alone developments that already won government approval but that are not built yet, even though the number of homes or shops there is higher than would be allowed elsewhere.

-- Allow stores and other commercial establishments to be built alongside major roads, where sewer lines are nearby, as currently planned. Even more businesses might be allowed on some roads without bad effects, the planners wrote.

The study was ordered by the County Commission before a new state law went into effect requiring detailed studies of how public services will have to develop to meet future growth.

Because the state law requires more detailed studies of all sections of the county -- including the 14-square-mile area -- the study received by the commission Monday won`t be used, said county planner Dick Lashua.

Several developers` attorneys and planners criticized the study for failing to examine carefully all the area`s future needs, including economic growth, instead of focusing on roadways.

``It seems they`ve come to a predetermined conclusion,`` said Bill Boose, a lawyer who often represents builders. ``In doing something that major . . . there should have been additional studies.``

Planners acknowledge that cutting the number of future residents allowed hurts developers economically.